Design of Buoy Array Configuration in the Autonomous Positioning System of Underwater Vehicles

Abstract

When underwater vehicles are performing operations in the water, an autonomous positioning system can provide them with their location information in a convert and flexible way. In Wang et al. Design of autonomous underwater vehicle positioning system, 2016 [1], an autonomous positioning system for underwater vehicles is designed. The buoys on the water surface obtain their location with the help of GPS or Beidou Positioning system, and transmit spread spectrum acoustic signal to the underwater vehicle. In this system, the buoy array configuration is a key factor regarding to positioning precision. In this paper, the influence exerted by buoy array configuration on positioning precision is analyzed; to design a better configuration, two principles of configuration design are proposed, which are nonsingularity of matrix G and minimal position dilution of precision (PDOP); and with the limit of maximum working distance of acoustic transducers, a central radiation configuration with minimum elevation angle is proposed. Through simulation, the PDOP values of three different configurations are compared upon the same region. It is concluded that the central radiation configuration has relatively smaller average PDOP value and no singular matrix G in the locating region, which is, therefore, a better configuration for practice.